Whew! A Whole Year of Blogging

I made it! I set out last year to write a new blog post every day this year, and (with just a couple of exceptions) I was successful. It's been an interesting experiment and it's fascinating to see how the posts have evolved over the year. I look back on them and I'm pretty proud of the whole of what I was able to accomplish. 

I learned a lot over the year. For one thing, I think having some sort of image to go with each post is helpful in drawing attention to the post, as well as in finding past posts. I also learned that my best blog posts happen in the morning. By evening my brain is done and I just want to chill and not think a bunch.

I don't plan on stopping blogging next year, but I may not be as diligent on making sure that there is something new published every day. There are days when I just don't have anything new, helpful, or interesting to blog about, and trying to come up with something relevant is sometimes a little stressful. So I will continue to update this, but there may be days where I don't necessarily post anything. 

I hope this has been and will continue to be interesting for you. Maybe more people will be impacted as this blog floats out there on the net in the years to come.

Here's to a great 2022 and hoping for a wonderful 2023! Happy new year.

Rob's Review: Avatar - The Way of Water

I finally had the opportunity to see Avatar: The Way of Water today with my sons, Jordan and Jonah. We ended up seeing the movie in 3D down near the Cities. Here are my initial impressions.

The movie is obviously a spectacle and special effects masterpiece. It should definitely be viewed in the theater for the full impact. I don't know that 3D is necessary (especially given the premium prices 3D commands), although it was excellently done and not distracting at all. I would also be interested in seeing it in standard 2D for comparison, but I'm not sure I'm up for another 3 hour 10 minute movie experience real soon.

The movie will do well partly because there's nothing else out right now that's especially compelling as far as movies go. And it's a greatly-made movie, if not a great movie. It's certainly enjoyable enough, especially as I went in with low expectations. 

I enjoyed the characters and the rudimentary plot, but I wish they had spent as much time on the story as they did on the special effects. The acting was top notch, but I wish the characters were developed a little better or at least had more to do. There was a lot of time spent "sightseeing" and showing off the special effects, but it did little to add to the actual story being told. The run time could have easily been pared down to 2.5 hours or less with some judicious editing. I imagine they didn't want to cut costly effects, but the movie suffers as a result. 

Would I recommend it? Sure. It's fun to watch - good eye candy - and a great way to kill several hours. But I doubt if I'll be watching it again any time soon. 

My grade: B+

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

For a younger child, that's a fun question because you get to hear their imagination run wild and you hear about things that are interesting to them. I remember when I was a young kid thinking that I wanted to be an astronaut, which I still think would be cool if you didn't have to worry about all the science and math stuff. You know, all the stuff that real astronauts have to do. My other thought was that I would love to be an actor on TV. 

What do you want to be when you grow up is an interesting question for a teenager, as well. Usually that person has had time to consider it in a more realistic way than when they were a child. 

Many times, a person's choice of career is informed by their own experiences. For example, if a parent is employed in a certain industry, the chances are much higher that they will be drawn to the same or similar jobs. My parents were teachers and I ended up in a field where I do a lot of educating, both as a pastor and as a substitute. I have friends whose parents were in the military who ended up going into the military, and so on. It's not a guarantee, but I think the familiarity with their parent's job can be a strong influencing factor.

For those who are in the middle of their vocational career or have retired, a good question to help you get to know someone better is "What did you want to be? And why?" Or maybe, "If you weren't doing what you are doing right now, what would you like to do?" What if money weren't an issue? What would you do? 

For me, if I weren't doing what I do now (which I love), I still think I might pursue acting. 

Maybe I could play an astronaut.

Finally - More Broomball!

Today we finally got time to play some broomball - the first time this winter. It was a beautiful morning and we had about 20 people who up to play. The ice was very slick, which is great for broomball because it helps level the playing field in that the fast, athletic students don't have a big advantage over the slower students. We had a fourth-grade girl facing off against a twelfth-grade guy and they were evenly matched.

Looking forward to scheduling some more games. Broomball - the one nice thing about winter!

Conversation Monopolists

Why is it so hard for some people to have a normal conversation?

The art of conversation seems to be lost. A good conversation will have some give and take, where all parties to the conversation have an opportunity to contribute. There should be natural pauses to allow input, and the occasional "What do you think?" or "How are things going with you?"

When it's a little kid, it's understandable. But when adults are involved, there ought to be a level of emotional intelligence. Of course, that requires all the parties to have an interest in the other people. When you get a narcissist involved, all bets are off. Especially if they are a bigger and better person ("Oh yeah, well you should hear what happened to me.") 

So, how was your Christmas?

A Very Star Trek Christmas

What did you get for Christmas?

That's always a good conversation starter, especially if you don't know the other person well or you just want to get to know them better. I use it frequently when working for teens and it works for a couple weeks after school is back in session.

You can tell a lot about a person by the gifts they get. (Or, at least you can tell a lot about what the people around them think of that person, I guess.) My Christmas this year was an all Star Trek Christmas. My boys got me some Star Trek beverage containers (a mug, and water bottles), and a cool Starfleet Academy sweatshirt. 

Rosalie surprised me with tickets to the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas this August, including plane tickets and arranging a place to stay at a condo of a good friend. She got some very good tickets to the convention which includes early registration, dealers rooms (Star Trek, not drug), and autographs from the celebrities. In addition to the main event rooms which will feature all of the remaining cast of the original Star Trek series, there are a lot of ancillary events. Last year the Inglorious Treksperts were there from my favorite Star Trek podcast and I'm hoping they will be again.

The only problem with this gift is that I will have to wait until August to enjoy it!!!! Oh, well, the anticipation is part of the enjoyment, I suppose.

So what can you tell about me from my gifts? I'm a big geeky kid at heart. Not that this is a surprise to anybody who knows me at all.  

Christmas Traditions

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We actually celebrated Christmas at our home this year instead of heading directly to Ripon to visit with Rosalie's family. (We'll be doing that tomorrow, instead.)

Other than Christmas Eve service at church, our family Christmas traditions revolve primarily around food. We had our traditional Christmas meal on Christmas Eve, which is typical for us as we're usually traveling on Christmas day. This year our Christmas day meal was chili during the Packer game, during which we were treated to a Packers victory, which was a nice Christmas present for us. This morning we had monkey bread for breakfast, which is something my mom used to make on Christmas when I was growing up. This is our 27th year of this tradition and it shows no signs of being broken anytime soon. 

Fortunately, I was able to get a run in this morning, which is something I try to enjoy most Sundays. The weather cooperated today as it was only -7 with no wind instead of the -34 degree windchills of the past few days. I cranked the Christmas music (I have one with the most upbeat songs in a running playlist) and took off. This is probably the last day I'll do that for the next 11 months because, as much as I love Christmas music, by the day after Christmas I'm pretty much done with it - other than possibly sneaking one into the worship set this next Sunday. I usually do Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, which seems Christmasy to me because it was used so heavily in the best Christmas movie ever. If you don't know which one I'm talking about, how are we even friends? 

Christmas won't be on a Sunday again until 2033. I don't know why you would need to know that, but it might give you something interesting to talk about at the dinner table. 

Christmas Eve Candlelight

I think one of my favorite gatherings of the year at our church is our Christmas Eve candlelight service (in spite of the challenges I chronicled yesterday with coming up with fresh message ideas). We have the perfect venue for a traditional service like that, with the real candles everyone gets to light at the end and finish the service with the lights off, singing Silent Night. 

Each year I remember similar services growing up. The church we attended in Florida wasn't quite as picturesque and historic as my current church, but we did have a candlelight service. That one was at 11 p.m. and ended at midnight with everyone singing Silent Night, but then they finished by singing "Happy Birthday Dear Jesus". Ugh! What a way to break the mood. Apparently, I was the only one who really hated it - or at least the only one who complained. The nice thing about being the service planner is that I can make sure that never happens at our church!

It was kind of fun when I was a kid being up that late, but we were used to later nights in Florida. It seems like everything winds down earlier here. Maybe it's the weather. Here, I can't imagine getting ready to head out into the cold for an 11 p.m. service! I expect I'll be fast asleep tonight by that point. 

What's your favorite Christmas tradition? 

Christmas Eve Challenges

Christmas Eve services are always a challenge for me, especially the longer I serve in ministry. How many different ways can you find to preach on the same passages and the same topic?

The tendency, of course, is to try to get creative and do something out of the box. There's a real limit to how effective that is. After all, people come to hear the Christmas story, not some random obscure passage from 2 Ezekiel (which is not a real book, just making a point). The other temptation is to try to cram every piece of theology in knowing that there are people who only show up once or twice a year that will be there.

I think the trick is to keep it simple. And especially keep it short. My typical Sunday morning messages run about 27 minutes, give or take. Christmas Eve is more a meditation and a challenge than a typcial sermon. I shoot for 20 minutes max on Christmas Eve. Add in special music, a video, several Christmas carols, and time for lighting candles and you end up with about 45 minutes for the evening. Which seems to be about right, especially when you have extended family visiting and so on and everyone is anxious to get home and finish preparations for Christmas morning.

All that to say, if you don't have a place to celebrate Christmas Eve, we'd love to have you join us at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow!

Recommended Winter Running Shoes

Out for a run this morning in the cold. I waited until it was -7 (about -25 with wind chill). 

Truthfully, I'd rather run in the bitter cold than when it's hot and humid. At least with this kind of weather you can add layers and prepare for it (to an extent). As long as the wind isn't too bad, neither is the run.

Along those lines, let me recommend Saucony's Endorphin Speed RUNSHIELD shoes. These are a water-resistant shoe from Saucony and they do a great job at keeping moisture away from your feet. I've literally never had cold feet running in these, even at the crazy temperatures it gets to in Minnesota. I believe they have RUNSHIELD tech in a number of their different shoes, I just happen to be a fan of the Endorphin Speeds. 

Rob's Recommendations: Timothy Zahn

I've mentioned Timothy Zahn before, but I wanted to highlight him here. He is one of my favorite science fiction authors and one of his classic Star Wars books, Heir to the Empire, is on sale right now at Amazon for only $3.99 in the Kindle ebook format (possibly elsewhere, as well.) This book, which was published in 1991, introduced Grand Admiral Thrawn and launched the Expanded Universe (which later became the Legends imprint.)

In addition to a number of Star Wars novels, he has written a ton of other standalone novels and book series, as well as some collaborations. If you like Star Wars, you owe it to yourself to read the Thrawn Trilogy, which was far better than any of the other sequels or prequels. If you like hard science fiction, any of his other works are excellent and highly recommended.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Podcasts

I love listening to podcasts and I've collected thousands of episodes over the years from all the various ones I've come across. Some are no longer in production. Others I'll download episodes depending on the guest, but I don't listen to all. The ones in this list are top podcasts that I listen to regularly and I listen to every episode. 

Many of these I've blogged about before, but here for the first time is my current list of favorites. There are others I enjoy and subscribe to, but they didn't make the cut.

Most of my Top 10 lists are in order of preference, but this one was very difficult to prioritize as it's really hard to compare some as my tastes are so eclectic. Try them out if you'd like. I bet you'll enjoy them.

10. The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast - Pastor Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church interviews various leaders.

9. The Simple Reminder with Pat Lencioni - This is focused on spiritual growth for ordinary people, with devotional thoughts and discussion by organizational health expert Patrick Lencioni and his friends.

8. Hollywood & Levine - This podcast features comedy writer Ken Levine, who wrote and/or was a showrunner for a ton of great, classic sitcoms like M*A*S*H*, Cheers, Frasier, and many more. Sometimes he hosts alone and sometimes he interviews various entertainment personalities or behind-the-scenes people. Always interesting, but sometimes the language can be a little PG. 

7. North Point Community Church - featuring Pastor Andy Stanley's weekly sermons.

6. No Worries If Not! - This is a podcast by two friends who also happen to be comedians, Aaron Chewning and Andrew Stanley (son of Andy). It's wide-ranging and always funny. 

5. The Working Genius Podcast - This features Patrick Lencioni discussing the Working Genius personality model. Hard for me to explain here in a few words, but it's wonderful and highly recommended. (Here's a link to my earlier post about The Working Genius.)

4. Laugh More: The Skit Guys Podcast - Tommy Woodard and Eddie James are The Skit Guys and this is their podcast. Very entertaining. 

3. At The Table with Patrick Lencioni - This is Patrick Lencioni's flagship podcast (and his third appearance on this list!) As you can tell, I'm a big fan of his. Listen to a few of these and you will be, as well.

2. Inglorious Treksperts - The best podcast for Star Trek fans, bar none. Tons of great interviews and content for the true Trek fans.

1. The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - My absolute favorite. Mike has great and very interesting guests. But sometimes he and his co-host/high school buddy Chuck talk, and it's just as great. 

The Butterfly Effect

It's fun to look at old pictures of the town you grew up in or the town you live in now (maybe it's the same for you!) I wish there was a way to go back and drive through your town or watch a video of that town from ten or twenty or however many years ago. You would be going, "Oh, I remember that store." or "I had forgotten how that looked."

What you notice is how much everything has changed so much in the last however many years. Even in the last five or ten years, the difference is striking. It pretty astounding when you view it like that, but when you're in the middle of the transformation, you don't tend to notice it, other than a few things here or there that change or get updated or improved.

I think that's the way it is with our spiritual lives. When you're in the middle of the transformation it seems like things aren't changing very quickly, but when you step back and view it from a distance, the transformation is substantial. 

It's the little changes day by day that make the biggest difference.

So what little change are you going to work on today?

(pictured above: Small town Pine City in the 1940s looking south from 3rd Ave. One of the round stained glass windows from the old court house (white building on the right) is hanging in the public library window now. Pletschel’s is currently Nicoll’s Café.)

Cold but Beautiful

I'm not a fan of winter, which makes it ironic that God brought me to Pine City to minister. If it weren't for broomball, I would pretty much have no use for winter, especially the bitter cold. 

And then there's the snow. I always said that if it just wouldn't snow on the roads or my driveway, I wouldn't mind the snow at all, but that seem unlikely to happen.

The one redeeming quality of winter is that it's often quite pretty. Not always, but sometimes. Like this morning. I went out on my Sunday morning pre-worship service sunrise run and the scenery was stunning. And the run was wonderful, in spite of the fact that it was about 2 degrees out. At least there wasn't any wind, and on Sundays at that time there's hardly any traffic, which makes for a wonderful, beautiful run. Add some great worship music in my earbuds (actually Christmas music this time of year) and it was a pretty great run.

I guess I can tough it out for a few months each year, even if I wish it was fewer few months of winter.

Putting His Word in Our Words

I love that there are so many translations of the Bible readily available online or through the YouVersion Bible App. (If you are a Jesus-follower with a smartphone, you really owe it to yourself to download this app!) 

Growing up we were pretty much stuck with the King James Version. In middle school I discovered The Living Bible and used it for several years, and it was a great tool for middle-school me, but it was a paraphrase and not as helpful when doing Bible study. My youth pastor, Carey Olson, challenged me in high school to move to something more faithful to the original text. For several years I enjoyed using my parallel New Testament which has the KJV, NIV, Living Bible paraphrase, and the Amplified Bible (which is kind of a cross between a translation and a thesaurus. Eventually I settled on the New International Version, which is my primary one to this day. 

When I'm teaching the Bible, I stick almost exclusively to the New International Version (2011 edition) because of its popularity, ubiquity, and familiarity. But occasionally I enjoy reading a different translation devotionally to keep it fresh. Recently I've enjoying reading using the New Living Translation (NLT). It's in the spirit of The Living Bible but an entirely new translation. It's a little more contemporary than the New International Version and easily accessible by all ages. It's uses a "thought-for-thought" methodology for translating Scripture rather than a word-for-word. That means it may not be as helpful for detailed study, but is excellent for devotional use. 

The Message Bible is similar in this regard, although even though it's a translation, more like a paraphrase because it uses more contemporary idioms and slang. For some reason I find it difficult to use for devotional reading because it's so wildly different, but it's great for someone who is newer to the Bible or is just looking for a fresh take on the text. There are plenty of other great translations available, like the New English Translation (NET), which has a ton of translation notes. 

My recommendation for teens and adults newer to reading Scripture is the New Living Translation or the New International Version. But it's nice to switch it up now and then to help keep God's Word from becoming something you skim through because you are so familiar with a particular translation. The great thing is that you don't have to go buy a ton of books, just download the YouVersion app! Try several until you find one that you enjoy.

Colors, Mood, and SAD

I saw an interesting study today that said wearing bright clothes can make you happier, so if you're struggling with the blues (no pun intended) just wear yellow or something like that. (I actually would love to have the shirt pictured above, but somehow I doubt it would be that vibrant in real life, as it's an obvious computer-generated image.)

I was just thinking about color and specifically light and how the lack of sunlight this time of year (at least for those of us in the upper Midwest) has such an impact on our moods. It hasn't gotten too bad for us, yet, but eventually the lack of sunlight will begin to wear on us. Seasonal Affective Disorder is very real, whether it affects you a little or a lot. Maybe wearing bright colored clothes will help counteract that a little bit?

It's worth a shot.

Who Will Tell You the Truth?

Oftentimes when high-profile people like celebrities, athletes, or even well-known pastors fail morally, it's because they have isolated themselves or surrounded themselves with yes-men (or women). 

Those are the ones who make the news, but it's not just that type of person at risk. We all have a tendency to insulate ourselves from honest feedback because it can be difficult or even painful, and we are all pain averse. The truth is that we all need someone who can speak truth into our lives, no matter who we are or what we do or how well we are known.

Paul, in Ephesians, tells us to "speak the truth in love." 

So who do you have that can tell you the hard truths?

If you can't think of anyone, who could you invite to have that role in your life? 

You need someone to do that. We all do. That's the only way we grow and the only way to avoid a fall.

I saw a quote that said, "A best friend is someone who tells you the truth even when you don't want to hear it." I would say that a real friend will tell you the truth especially when you don't want to hear it. 

Rob's Recommendation: The Codex Alera Chronicles

Jim Butcher is probably best known for his urban fantasy series, The Dresden Files, which is maybe my all-time favorite series. But he has another fantastic series called The Codex Alera Chronicles. And I got a note that the first book in this series, Furies of Calderon, is currently on sale in e-book format for only $1.99. 

If you are an e-book reader at all, I'd highly recommend this. It's a great introduction to the six-volume Codex Alera series and sets up plot threads that get paid off in later novels while still standing on its own as a great novel. Butcher writes lively and compelling characters and plots that are interesting and intricate while still being eminently understandable. I can't recommend the series enough. 

Here's the blurb from Amazon's site: 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files series: The people of Alera have always battled their enemies by relying on their bond with the furies. But with the lord of the land weakening, Alera’s future rests with Tavi, an unsuspecting boy who may possess powers far greater than he realizes.

The e-book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google. You can also pick up a paperback for only $7.99 if you're not the e-book type.

My grade: A+

Finding Friends

I’ve often wondered if there’s someone who would be a good friend, but I never know about it because I never meet them. Maybe they live too far away and our paths never cross, or – and this may be worse –our paths do cross, but I never have the opportunity or take the time to get to know them and connect? Maybe you have a potential best friend who lives nearby, but not close enough that your paths will naturally cross.

I’ve often thought it’d be cool to have an app or website that would be like the dating apps but just for helping match up friends. You put in your likes, hobbies, and maybe a personality profile or something. Then the computer algorithm would match you with a potential friend. 

I wonder if we would be more likely to begin friendships with people who are a different age, race, socio-economic class, etc. 

I also wonder if people would take advantage of it, or if they would just be like, “I have enough friends already. I don’t have time for any more friends.”

Maybe if you don’t have time for more friends, you need to adjust how you are spending your time.

Rob's Recommendations: Upside app

There's a great app out called Upside that I've been hesitant to post about for a few reasons. 

First, they really want you to share it with your friends and are always urging you to do that - which always makes me leery. It's not just my natural contrariness, where I don't want to do something that someone else urges me to do, although that maybe a part of it. But I was kind of cautious about sharing something where there might be a catch later on. (Kind of like, "Hey, free vacation. Just one thing. You have to sit through a two-day sales pitch for a timeshare...")

Second, I wanted to be sure it really worked first, so I wanted to test it for myself for a bit.

Third, it might seem self-serving, because if you download and use the app, and you use my referral code, I get some type of bonus. Don't worry, it's not a multi-level marketing kind of deal, just a few extra cents off gasoline or something - the bonus changes.

Anyway, in spite of all of my initial concerns, I am happy to report that there don't seem to be any catches and this app really works and saves you all kinds of money. It's kind of like an electronic coupon where they refund you the money. I've used it for the last six months or so and have earned/saved $58.33 so far. You can save money on gas purchases, at restaurants, and on groceries, depending on where you shop. 

The savings vary depending on the location. For example, right now I can save 22 cents/gallon on gas at the Holiday station in the middle of Pine City, but if I go to the Holiday station by the interstate, I only get 17 cents a gallon back. And the savings amount changes all the time. 

There aren't any restaurants near Pine City that are currently using this app, but I saved about $15 on a couple of different visits to a Mexican restaurant near my son, Jordan, down in Monticello. You can also save at grocery stores. I saved at Cub Foods in the Cities before, and the Coborn's in Mora is currently offering 10% cash back on groceries. 

You can try it for yourself. If you would like, please use my referral code: ROB2427 when you sign up. Right now, they are offering you an extra $7 cash back the first time you use the app and another $7 for me! But that could change, depending on when you read this and use the app for the first time.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think. After using it for a while now, though, I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

Rob's Review: Ms. Marvel

I finally got around to watching Ms. Marvel. I had put it off for a while because I had heard some mixed reviews from various sources. So I went in with some low expectations and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. 

The casting is great, and the writing is sharp and funny. The plot is interesting enough although a little too much time is spent exploring the main character's culture. At times it felt almost like an infomercial for an idealized Disneyesque Pakastani American family culture. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable series and at only six episodes the action moved along nicely.

I'm only peripherally familiar with the source material comic books, so I wasn't thrown by the change in origin stories or powers. Instead, I just decided to enjoy it for what it is and that was a good move. It's only six episodes and while it seems to skew toward teens, it's something an adult can easily enjoy as well. 

The one challenge I had with this show was understanding all of the dialogue. Many of the words used were unfamiliar and often spoken so quickly that it was impossible for me to understand without the close captioning enabled, so I ended up with that on the entire series.

Overall, if you're interested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at all, you should check it out. Even if you're not, you still may enjoy it, as Rosalie did.

My grade: B+

Donuts are my Kryptonite

I've often bemoaned the fact that there are no Krispy Kreme stores in the upper Midwest. The closest one is down in Iowa, a couple hundred miles away. It's probably a good thing for my waistline, because donuts are my kryptonite when it comes to eating healthy. It's incredibly difficult for me to resist a good donut, and Krispy Kreme has some of the best.

But I've got another donut that gives Krispy Kreme a run for its money, and it's available all over the upper Midwest at any Kwik Trip. It's their Persian donut with cinnamon roll frosting. These are incredible. I'd highly recommend them if you live near a Kwik Trip. 

Fortunately (for my waistline), we don't have any Kwik Trips in Pine City... yet. I'm hopeful that we'll get some someday, because these are better than any other place I know for great fresh donuts. For now they remain special treats for Rosalie and myself when we travel or for a particular celebration. They get my highest recommendation.

Rob's Recommendations: Justified

I usually wait until I've seen an entire TV series before recommending it, however I'm going to make an exception this time and commend to you the wonderful series, Justified, starring Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Rayland Givens. 

Justified originally ran on FX from 2010 to 2015. I was made aware of this series a few weeks ago when it was referenced in Mike Rowe's excellent podcast, The Way I Heard It, and I thought I'd check it out. I'm so glad I did because it is wonderful. It has great acting and wonderful writing. It's gritty and unexpected and a lot of fun. Rosalie and I have enjoyed it quite a bit and we are currently toward the end of the fourth season (out of six, 13-episode seasons), although at the rate we are consuming episodes we'll likely be done by Christmas in a few weeks. 

If you're looking for a great series to watch, I'd highly recommend it. (It is a little PG-13 at times with content, so be aware of that.) 

My grade: A

Running With Tucker

We have an extraordinarily active Cocker Spaniel puppy named Tucker. He loves to run and play, and sometimes I take him running with me to try to help tire him out so that he'll sleep better at night. (Or, you know, at all!)

The thing is, he's faster than me. Which is good, I suppose, because he pushes me to run faster. But the other problem is that even after a 5K run, he's not very tired.

As I was running with him the other day, a terrifying thought suddenly struck me: "Oh, no. Am I just building his endurance?!" 

Missed It by That Much - TV Sitcom Honorable Mentions

Yesterday I shared my Top Ten all-time TV Sitcoms. Feel free to read and comment. Here are some honorable mentions that either almost made the list or are just some other great, eminently rewatchable shows.

The "Close, but No Cigar" awards go to: 

Arrested Development - Which I loved the first time through. I haven't had the opportunity to rewatch this wonderfully quirky series, although I may do so someday, especially if I have someone who wants to watch it with me. The original Fox seasons were epic and awesome. I tried to watch the Netflix seasons but honestly never got through them. Maybe if I rewatch the originals, but I have a feeling it's going to be impossible to recapture the magic of the original.

The Office - I love The Office and the wonderful characters, but the last few seasons were weak. Still, I wouldn't mind rewatching this classic, but there just wasn't enough room for it in the top 10. 

Sports Night - Aaron Sorkin does a sitcom, and it's excellent, especially after the first several episodes where they dropped the laugh track. I've got the DVDs for the series if anyone wants to borrow it.

Other awesome classic shows I'd recommend everyone check out:

1. Wings 
2. Laverne and Shirley
3. The Bob Newhart Show 
4. The Golden Girls

Have I left out any deserving shows? Let me know in the comments.

Top 10 TV Sitcoms

Okay, here's my first shot at a Top Ten list for Top Ten Tuesdays. I thought I'd start with TV comedies because there's enough to make it worthwhile, while not so many that I'd spend hours trying to narrow it down. You can take these all as my recommendations, as well. If you haven't seen any

Here are my criteria:

• Rewatchability - it has to be something I'd be willing to rewatch, if I haven't already. 
• Consistently good - There are generally no bad seasons, even if there are bad episodes. (Sorry, The Office, that's why you didn't make the top 10.
• Funny - This seems obvious, but so many shows settle for amusing. I want a comedy to make me laugh out loud.
• Stands the test of time - It's something you could and would still watch today. Some older shows haven't aged as well for whatever reason. The ones on my list are those I still find funny today.
• Half hour - Not an hour dramady, but a traditional half hour situation comedy.

These are my favorite shows. I'm not arguing that there might not be other good shows, these are just the ones I'm willing to watch over and over again. I'd love to hear your thoughts about what you might like to include. Feel free to leave a comment.

So without further ado,:

10. How I Met Your Mother - A comedy with heart and a great cast. 

9. Community - Quirky and twisted, just like me! Troy and Abed are the best. No series does meta better. And rumor has it that they are going to get their movie!

8. Cheers - No matter how many times I've seen these episodes (and I've seen them many times, I never get tired of them! 

7. The Big Bang Theory - The danger with this one is that it will get overexposed as so many TV stations run it constantly. But that's because it's so good and you can pretty much jump in any season and enjoy it.

6. M*A*S*H* - Classic and still funny after all these years. The middle years are the best, but all are great, even if it got a little tired in its final couple years.

5. Newsradio - I've got this series on DVD and rewatched it a few years ago with my son, Jordan. Excellent and still holds up all these years later. This is unfortunately a somewhat forgotten gem. I hope someone reruns it or streams it to get it back in the public eye.

4. Frasier - sophisticated comedy that's really funny. You are probably already familiar with it, and if you aren't, you should be. 

3. Parks and Recreation - Really, really funny with a lot of heart. 

2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Unexpected for me, as I wasn't an Andy Samberg fan before. But I am now! Great ensemble, even if in its last year it got a little preachy.

And my number one favorite TV sitcom:

1. The Good Place - This is a delightfully unexpected show which actually raises some great philosophical questions. I'm hoping to do a Bible study someday using this series as a discussion starter and then giving more biblically-based answers to some of the questions raised. Plus, it's just stinking funny (even if sometimes a little off-color).

Note: You have to watch it in order. It's more like a series of mini-series that builds to a finale over the years. You can't just jump in anywhere. That almost kept it out of the number one spot, but it's so charming it made it in anyway. 

Okay, now this list is not set in stone and I reserve the right to modify it in the future, but best as I can figure right now, this is it. Tomorrow I'll share some thoughts about the ones that didn't make the cut and the reasons why.

Exsqueeze me

I found this at the store the other day - a dish soap dispenser that doesn't require you to do anything but pick it up and squeeze. No tipping a bottle and waiting for the contents to get to the opening, just pick it up and squeeze. It's great when you just have that one pan that won't fit in the dishwasher or needs some TLC.

I'm really hoping that it's refillable and that a cheaper off-brand dish soap will work, but either way, it's a small thing but really nice. 

Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring you a disproportionate amount of joy. 

Top 10 Lists

Years ago, long before I started a blog, I had a web site. Mostly because I could. The internet was relatively new and I created a web site for the church I was a youth pastor at and I decided to do one for myself. Again, this was before Facebook was a thing, so it was kind of a way to keep in touch in people and to share stuff I liked.

One of the features I had on the website was a series of Top Ten Lists. David Letterman's influence, no doubt, although mine were less funny than his. I had my top ten movies, top TV shows, top favorite restaurants, top apps for my computer or PocketPC (like a PalmPilot, you know... ah, look it up if you're that young.)

Anyway, I thought that might be a fun thing to bring back. I have highlighted the occasional TV show or movie that I've enjoyed recently or long-term, but it might be fun to compile a list all in one spot. Then people can comment about ones they might add or even post their own! It could be a fun conversation if people want to participate. 

So I'll plan to roll out some of these over the next few days or weeks. Or maybe I'll make it a weekly feature, like Top Ten Tuesdays. If you have some ideas for categories, let me know.

Tuckered Out

I took out puppy, Tucker, outside tonight to run around in the snow to hopefully burn off some excess energy. It turns out that doesn't work much better with a puppy than it does for a toddler or a young kid. But, hey, it was worth a shot.

I was out there watching Tucker zooming back and forth, running around for no apparent reason and acting crazy. And then it struck me: I wonder if that's what we look like to God sometimes - Just a bunch of people running around randomly, wearing ourselves out acting crazy for no good reason.

We put up with Tucker's shenanigans because at least he's cute.

Maybe God thinks we're cute, too.

You Have to Be Bad Before You Can Be Good

Rosalie and I went to the junior high band and choir holiday concert last night to support our youth group kids and all the students I am friends with because of coaching cross country and subbing at school.

We always love these concerts, although the first junior high band concert of the year (especially the groups with primarily seventh graders) is always a little bit of a labor of love. (The choir a little bit too, but it's more noticeable with band.) There were a few missed notes and rhythm issues as times, but that's okay. They're just learning and they'll get better. It's always fun to see how much better they get just by the time they're in eighth grade and what a difference a year makes.

That's the thing about any worthwhile endeavor. You have to be willing to be bad at something for a while before you can be good at it. Too many people just decide to drop out if they're not great at something right away.

Kudos to these students for working hard and sticking to it!

Rob's Review: Andor

Jonah and I finally got a chance to finish watching the first season of Andor last week.

Wow.

It's a slow burn, to be sure. There are a lot of character moments and development punctuated by the occasional battle. But it's not about the action as much as it's about the people, and Andor has some great writing and compelling characters. 

I'm really glad that they are allowing the storyline room to breathe over two whole seasons - and over 12 episodes (at least in the first one)! It great to be able to explore sections of the Star Wars universe that have been underrepresented in live-action series. Now the only problem is that we have to wait until the second season for the storylines to resolve (or at least lead into the events of Rogue One). I'm excited about what is to come.

If you're a Star Wars fan at all, I'd highly recommend this series. And even if you're not, there's not a lot of backstory necessary to follow along.

My grade: A+

People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed

I mentioned yesterday in a postscript a podcast that I recently discovered called The Simple Reminder with Patrick Lencioni. He's been recording this for the past couple of years, but I just discovered it as he hasn't promoted it on his business podcasts, the wonderful At The Table and The Working Genius, both of which are highly recommended.

The Simple Reminder it's a delightful short podcast (usually under 10 minutes) that he puts out weekly that focuses on spiritual formation and following Jesus. It's really a refreshing take from a layperson who loves Jesus and is working to follow him more closely. He often will begin with some prepared thoughts and then have a brief discussion with some family, friends, and coworkers. I highly recommend it.

(The title of this post is a quote from Samuel Johnson that Lencioni references in the podcast introduction.)

Moderatation and Extremes

"Moderation in all things."

That's usually a good rule of thumb for most of life, especially when it comes to food, drink, exercise, finances, and so on.

But what about when it comes to our faith?

Jesus calls for his followers to be fully devoted. All in. Sold out for the Kingdom of God.

Extreme.

Moderation when it comes to faith is just another word for "lukewarm."

 

(Thanks to "The Simple Reminder with Pat Lencioni" podcast for the inspiration for this post.)

The Great Root Beer Barrel Saga of 2022

If you know me at all, you know that I am a big fan of root beer barrels. 

I first began to consume them about five years ago when I started running a losing a lot of weight. They are great for helping curb your appetite while also giving a little bit of a sugar boost to keep you from crashing. I often kid that I should write a book called The Root Beer Barrel Diet Book. 

Because I would always carry some with me, I began to share with friends. It wasn't long before I got to be known for sharing root beer barrels with students on my cross country team or at school.

I would always stock up on root beer barrels at Fleet Farm, but a few months ago they ran out of stock of the good Dad's brand. Then a week or so ago they began to sell their own brand of root beer barrels. I was hopeful that they would be as good as the Dad's brand, but they were a major disappointment. (You can see the comparison in the above picture.) They have a less pleasant taste, and they tend to come out of their wrappers in your pocket.

A couple months ago I bought some from Amazon, but the prices went way up recently, so I spent several hours the other day researching different places to purchase them in bulk. I finally stumbled upon Nuts.com, which had them at a decent price with shipping included. Plus, they were running a Black Friday sale when you could buy one, get one half off. Needless to say, I am well stocked for a while now and able to share. (And maybe drop a few pounds again!)

Return to Running

I had to take a few weeks off of running earlier this month because I was sick. My whole household came down with some form of influenza or something. It made you feel really rundown and tired and gave us a nagging cough for a couple of weeks.

I finally was feeling better and got back to running last week, determined to take it slow and ease back into my routine, which is usually a 5k a day, minimum. The first day went well and I was feeling pretty good about the fact that I hadn't seemed to have lost much stamina. I came home, showered, sat down to do something.

And then I went to stand up. Arggh. My legs were so sore! I guess after a three week break it will take a bit to get my muscles back to running form, at least at my age.

I did lose some endurance, as well. I was out running a different day this week and struggling a little to maintain my pace, but I was glad for the opportunity to push myself physically. Running is a challenge at times, but there's something about doing hard work that is satisfying. So much of our world is about ease and comfort, it's good to be able to do something that stretches you physically. Plus there are a lot of mental and even spiritual benefits to running. 

Running isn't an option for everyone, but there should be something you can do physically to get your heart rate up. Even walking is really good exercise. I know that at least for me it's really easy to fall into the routine of not doing anything if I'm not intentional about it. 

Cool Stuff: Churro Popcorn Seasoning

I came across this gem the other day at Walmart. We don't make a ton of popcorn at home, but every once in a while when we do it's nice to shake it up a little bit. Some of the Kernel Season's brand seasoning is quite good while others leave a little to be desired. This one is definitely a winner and my favorite so far. 

Rob's Review: Wakanda Forever

I finally got a chance to see Wakanda Forever (aka. Black Panther 2) with Jonah this afternoon. As I anticipated, it was very enjoyable and kept me engaged the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes of the run time. It was a worthy successor to the original Black Panther.

I would say that if you haven't seen the first Black Panther movie, you will be fairly lost watching this movie. I only saw Black Panther one time when it first came out in 2018, and although I remembered most of it, there were several scenes in the movie which presupposed that you were very familiar will all the characters and what had happened before. So this movie would have benefited from a little more time (or any time!) reintroducing all the characters or recapping the first film. 

Nevertheless it was a fun afternoon with my son and an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. If you are a Marvel fan and have seen the original movie (and remember it well), I'd recommend it. If not, go see the first one first.

My Grade: B+

Thanksgiving Doesn't Come Around Often Enough

It's Thanksgiving Day here in the US (for all of my international readers who may not be aware of that.) It's so important to have a day set aside for people to count our blessings and reflect on what makes us thankful. I think we'd all do better if we practiced Thanksgiving more regularly. At least weekly, if not daily (although not with all the food, because we'd all be way too fat and probably not very thankful about that!)

Thanksgiving also helps remind us that we have a Creator/Father/God/Provider to be thankful to! 

One of the nice benefits of Thanksgiving is that it helps put life into perspective. Sure, I'm thankful for a great job and home and stuff (literally, the stuff I have). But if you ask most people what they are thankful for, the first think they will respond with is something like, "I'm thankful for my friends and family." And I would certainly echo that sentiment. I have a tremendous family and wonderful friends and I am so very thankful for them.

Ultimately, it's people that are the most important, not our careers, finances, or acquisitions. Thanksgiving helps us to remember that, and it gives us the opportunity to express that. (As Andy Stanley says, unexpressed gratitude is experienced as ingratitude.)

Now we just need to figure out how to keep being thankful throughout the year. And then keep expressing our gratitude. 

Cool Stuff: Bullzip

I haven't done a "cool stuff" post in a while. And this is kind of cool, but mostly just extremely helpful, and that is Bullzip PDF. It's a free printer driver for windows that basically turns your printout into a .pdf file. (It's Adobe's Portable Document Format for all you file-type nerds out there.) 

I have it installed on all on my computers and use it a ton. If you don't have it, you might want to check it out. Their website is bullzip.com and they've got some other free software there, but that printer driver is the one I use all the time.

Rob's Recommendations: Terminator 2

It was the summer of 1991. I was attending Bethel Seminary but spending my second summer up at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp in Pembine, Wisconsin, on Summer Staff Team as a camp counselor. We were very busy throughout the week, but after the campers left on Saturday morning we had free time until Sunday afternoon. Almost a whole 24 hours!

Sometimes we would hang out at camp or go to someone's home who lived nearby, but this one particular Saturday I decided to enjoy a day away alone. I drove down to Green Bay (about an hour and a half away) and did some shopping and wandering around. I decided to go see a movie. I didn't really know what was out, having been relatively cut off from news and information during the summer. 

I did see that a new movie, Terminator 2, had come out. It was a new release and I wasn't familiar with it at all. In fact, I don't think that I had seen the first Terminator, although I was familiar with the plot. For example I knew that Arnold played the bad guy who was from the future trying to kill Sarah Connor to prevent her from having a son, John, who would lead a rebellion against Skynet and the machines that had caused a nuclear apocalypse. 

I'm not normally someone who enjoys going to movies alone, but I was enjoying the time away and wanted to see a movie on my day off. So I bought the ticket and found a seat. 

The reason I remember so many details was that it was one of those kind of defining moments in my life as far as movies go. The last one had been the first time I saw Star Wars. I remember watching the Star Destroyer and feeling the rumble in the theater and I knew that movies would never be the same after that. This was the same kind of thing, especially when the big fakeout reveal happened (spoilers ahead - highlight to reveal) when Arnold was revealed to be the good guy! A reprogrammed terminator who was sent back to save John Connor!

I'm sure you've seen the movie, but if not I would highly recommend it. In fact, it has my highest recommendation as it is my favorite action movie of all time. Time travel. Arnold. Great story. Great acting. A killer soundtrack (I immediately went an bought a copy of the soundtrack on cassette to listen to on the way back to camp!) What's not to love?

There's an extended special edition that is very enjoyable, as well, but the theatrical version remains my all-time favorite.

My grade: A+

The Walking Dead Sputters to an End

I watched The Walking Dead finale last night. (No spoilers if you haven't seen it.) My expectations were fairly low as I've been underwhelmed for the past couple seasons, so that was good, because the finale matched my expectations. 

It's a shame, because The Walking Dead started out so, so great. The pilot episode was one of the best pilots ever and set up this wonderful world with a great lead character. It just did so much right, and then the rest of the short first season just knocked it out of the park. Second season was just as strong, in my opinion, and the third, fourth and fifth seasons were almost as good. The characters and the writing were spectacular. There was a sense of danger as any of the main characters were at risk of dying at any time.

But the show began to falter in later seasons for whatever reason. Partly the cast became too big and it was hard to follow so many different people over the lengthy season breaks. And the risk factor went away for the most part. For example, the series finale saw the loss of, what, two or three minor characters and one longer-term character? Really? I guess you can't kill people off if you are planning a bunch of spin-offs featuring those characters! Money over concept integrity.

I blame the writing and leadership (showrunner), but there's other issues at work such as maintaining the concept over 11 seasons. There's a great article here titled The Walking Dead Didn't Survive It's Own Success that does a great job of outlining the history of the show and some of the problems it encountered as it aged.

I won't go into a lot of detail because I don't want to spoil anything for those who may be interested in watching. I talked to someone recently who was watching the first seasons. My advice would be to watch through season 5 maybe. Sure, there were some good episodes after that, but the decline story-wise was noticeable. 

I'm sure there's some application or takeaway to this, but I can't think of it right now, other than to say that any narrative has to have a clear theme and guiding hand and not just keep going for the sake of making a buck. Sorry, Walking Dead. I'll remember the good first half of your run, and the rest can be a cautionary tale.

Rob's Recommendations: North Branch Dental

Most people already have a dentist, but if you moved the area recently or are just looking for another dentist, allow me to recommend North Branch Dental. 

The doctors, dental hygienists and staff are all extremely professional, very friendly, and they don't do a lot of unnecessary work on your teeth (unlike some dentists I could name). The only downside is that they are so good they are very popular and it can take a few weeks to get a regular cleaning appointment. They have, however, been able to accommodate emergencies and get us in quickly. 

North Branch Dental has done a great job for our family over the years, so if you need a dentist, check them out. 

Rob's Recommendations: Pearls Before Swine

I was going to share a funny Pearls Before Swine comic with a student yesterday when he said, "Pearls Before Swine? What's that?"

What?! You haven't heard of Pearls Before Swine?! That's one of the problems with newspapers not being as popular as they used to be - people can't discover wonderful content on the comics page like Pearls. (Okay, other than Pearls and Dilbert, there's not a ton of wonderful content anymore, to be honest.) Given that this was a high school student, he may never have actually read a comics page before. Sigh. 

Anyway, I did blog about Pearls Before Swine before, but I realized it has been 14 years since my last post about it, so perhaps you haven't gone back to read up on my entire life since 2008. Pearls Before Swine is maybe my all-time favorite comic strip. Here's a description from Wikipedia:

Pearls Before Swine (also known as Pearls) is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis. The series began on December 31, 2001. It chronicles the daily lives of an ensemble cast of suburban anthropomorphic animals: Pig, Rat, Zebra, Goat, and a fraternity of crocodiles, as well as a number of supporting characters, one of whom is Pastis himself. Each character represents an aspect of Pastis's personality and worldview. The daily and Sunday comic strip is distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication (by United Feature Syndicate until 2011).

The strip's style is notable for its black comedy, simplistic artwork, self-deprecating fourth wall meta-humor, social commentary, mockery of itself or other comic strips, and occasional elaborate stories leading to a pun.

Here are a couple more of my favorites strips over the years. This will give you a sense of the humor:

And finally, one of my favorites, for obvious reasons:

There are a number of Pearls collections available. I have a few that I am happy to lend you if you live near me, otherwise you can check them out from the library, or better yet, buy them and read them! Or give them to someone as a gift (hint, hint), as long as they have a twisted sense of humor. You can also read the daily strip at HERE or subscribe on that site to daily emails or Facebook posts.  

Go check it out. My rating: A+